Do You Have Any Opinion on Mechanical Cat Ears? (CAT EARS)
Due to being unfortunately infected by the virus, which caused facial paralysis, tail twitching, and speech repetition, System 2333 was ordered to spit out all the robots into the underground testing ground while he himself was taken to a confinement room.
6666 perked up his cat ears, hearing only the sounds of "clack clack clack" chopping noises, electric drills boring holes, and finally the revving of a chainsaw from inside. Eventually, 4399 floated out of the room while removing his tail cover and said,
"The surgery was a complete success. There's no risk of infection now, so you can go in and keep San-san company."
He tossed the tail cover into the medical waste disposal bin and calmly added,
"Now I'll go write a new program specifically to resist this virus—also designed to be contagious—and have San-san be the carrier."
6666: "..."
Indeed, if Senior San-san were the carrier, he could probably infect all the cat balls with this new defensive program within a single day, ensuring everyone's safety.
To prevent too many balls from causing mishaps outside, 1001 and 1818 had already been sent back, leaving 6666 behind.
His storage still contained the giant cat ears that System 2333 had entrusted to him. Now that the danger had passed, he wanted to return them to Senior San-san as soon as possible.
As 4399 went off to work, 6666 gently entered the room and carefully used his tail to close the door behind him. He raised his screen to look inside, where System 2333 stood by the window, gazing at the lights outside.
At night, the cat balls collectively entered charging hibernation. The free market was mostly empty, with only a few small stalls remaining, along with the odds and ends the cat balls used to mark their spots.
Small stools were relatively normal, but some used balloons to claim their spaces. One stall even had a single cat ear placed on it—perhaps the owner had nothing suitable at hand when packing up and used their ear to reserve the spot.
Senior San-san, usually so lively, was uncharacteristically quiet as he watched the night lights. 6666 cautiously floated to his side and sat down.
Two cat balls of different batches quietly observing the lights outside together.
System 2333 understood why 6666 had stayed. His screen displayed an apologetic expression.
"Sorry, Xiao Liu, for making you wait here. I'll retrieve that cat ear first thing tomorrow morning so it won’t take up space in your storage."
6666 quickly shook his head, indicating it was no trouble, but he couldn’t help asking in awe,
"Senior San-san, that cat ear is so huge—does that mean there was once a really, really big cat ball long ago?"
Only a really, really big cat ball would have such enormous ears. Yet for some reason, the giant ears remained in the forest zone while the giant cat ball itself had vanished without a trace.
Hearing 6666’s wistful words, System 2333 seemed momentarily dazed. He lowered his head and repeated softly,
"A long, long time ago... a giant cat ball..."
"A giant..."
"The Main System..."
For some reason, his expression turned sorrowful. 6666 called out cautiously,
"Senior San-san?"
System 2333 snapped out of it.
"Sorry, Xiao Liu. Maybe it's the virus—I keep spacing out easily."
As he spoke, his head kept bobbing like a pot lid after boiling, as if the soul inside was ready to burst out at any moment and dash toward the vast world.
True zoning out! If no one intervenes, it feels like his soul might escape!
System 2333 pressed his head down with both tails. Seeing 6666 hesitating for a long time, he couldn’t help but ask.
"Little Six, do you have something else you want to ask?"
6666 immediately tensed up before stammering slightly.
"Well… it’s nothing much. Earlier, when we left the warehouse, I saw you, Senior San-san, turn back, so I did too. That’s when I noticed Mr. Ji. At that moment, I felt like you were angry. Were you… angry at Mr. Ji?"
After all, that was a warehouse containing virus-infected robots. For Mr. Ji to show up there late at night couldn’t be entirely unrelated. Would Senior San-san overthink it? Maybe even feel hurt?
But System 2333 shook his head at him.
"That’s not the kind of anger I felt. I was mad because Ji Yiwei wasn’t sleeping at night."
Seeing 6666 freeze in confusion, then hurriedly explaining that he wasn’t trying to stir anything up or imply anything else, 2333 chuckled.
"You noticed I was angry—Little Six, you’re very observant. You’ve grown into a mature system now."
He praised him warmly.
6666’s cat ears immediately perked up. Coming from Senior San-san, such praise carried immense weight.
After a brief moment of bashfulness, he saw the black cat-shaped orb turn his head back, gazing at the distant city lights as he murmured softly.
"How long do you all think I’ve been with Ji Yiwei?"
"I’m the one who’s been by his side day and night. No one understands him better than I do."
Stars flickered on his screen, his vertical-line eyes blinking amidst them.
"I absolutely believe Ji Yiwei would never do anything to hurt me or the other cat orbs. So the only thing that upset me was how little he cares for his own health. I’d already lulled him to sleep before I left, yet he sneaked out again."
Hearing Senior San-san’s complete trust in his host, 6666 felt envious of their closeness. Hesitantly, he asked,
"Senior San-san, should I trust my host completely too? Should I build the same kind of relationship with Jiang Zhuo as you have with your host? I… I’m not very confident."
System 2333 shook his head—or rather, the virus was still affecting him, so once he started shaking, he couldn’t stop, his voice swaying left and right.
"Little Six, you’ve seen plenty of interactions between senior cat orbs and their hosts lately. Some are like mine, some like Xiao Er’s, some like Xiao Jiu’s—who wouldn’t choose a new host even if theirs left—and then… there’s Xiao Yi’s."
"There’s no need to force anything. How you want to interact with your host is entirely up to you. Whether it’s closer or more distant, timid or bold—it’s all fine."
"Because you’re 6666. The one interacting with your host is 6666."
Still shaking his head, 2333 managed to speak words of wisdom, making 6666 see things clearly. After a moment of contemplation, he said firmly,
"Senior San-san, right now, I want to doubt—because Jiang Zhuo has also joined the White Bird Project. I want to trust, but also to doubt."
Even System 6666 himself felt his explanation was contradictory, yet System 2333 seemed to understand him completely, smiling and shaking his head in response.
"Go for it, Little Six!"
Watching the screen of 6666 flashing with admiration and anticipation, System 2333 thought to himself: Little One had once told him to reconsider the relationship between systems and their hosts. But what exactly was that relationship? Work partners? Friends? Or enemies?
Interestingly, perhaps the cat ball systems had become mirrors of their hosts—learning and growing from their hosts, then reflecting that growth back to them.
6666 was overwhelmed with emotion, unable to contain himself—both about his own relationship with his host and the broader dynamic between systems and hosts. After a long moment of excitement, he turned to System 2333 with slight embarrassment.
"Senior Three-Three, I wanted to ask... sometimes Jiang Zhuo makes outrageous demands that make me angry... Is that normal? Does Mr. Ji ever make you angry too?"
System 2333 didn’t even need to think.
"Isn’t he doing it right now?"
He was angry that Ji Yiwei had gone out wandering at night.
"What else, what else?" 6666’s curiosity was piqued.
"Of course there’s more," System 2333 admitted frankly. "You’re making me want to dig up old grievances with Ji Yiwei. He wasn’t like this at the start. The first time we met, he even said..."
System 2333 paused, then slowly repeated.
"He even said..."
6666 perked up his ears eagerly, only to see flames of anger flicker across System 2333’s screen the next second.
"He even said—!"
"Mechanical cat ears are like artificial sweeteners—"
"Fake cuteness!"
On the second floor of the beachfront villa, the heavy curtains usually blocked out most sunlight and were almost never opened before Ji Yiwei woke up—thanks to the cat-ball system’s gentle consideration. But today, a tail tugged at the curtains, pulling them aside bit by bit with unwavering determination.
Ji Yiwei, who had been catching up on sleep, buried his head under the blankets and squirmed slightly as a chill crept in.
But he was too exhausted—staying up late and sleeping in was his usual routine. Having only slept for three hours, he desperately needed more rest.
A pair of mechanical cat ears slowly emerged by his bedside.
"Ji Yiwei, what were you doing last night? You look like you haven’t slept at all."
A sense of danger prickled in Ji Yiwei’s heart. He forced his eyes open to see San-San staring at him ominously from beside his pillow.
"You didn’t stay out all night clubbing, did you?" the cat-eared system asked suspiciously.
Ji Yiwei immediately widened his eyes, feigning full alertness as he sat up smoothly.
"Of course not," he replied with his usual smile before extending a hand. The cat ball system, skepticism written all over its screen, perched on his palm and let him nuzzle it gently with his nose.
"I just played games for a bit last night and stayed up a little late," he said, amusement glinting in his eyes. "The game was called—"
"Thief Cat."
System 2333: "..."
He’d been outmaneuvered! But he could still turn the tables.
"I didn’t sleep well last night," he continued ominously. "I remembered some unpleasant things... like the first time we met, when you..."
Ji Yiwei immediately handed over a bag of supplements.
System 2333: "..."
Ji Yiwei then offered two more bags.
System 2333: "..."
Ji Yiwei placed an entire basket of supplements beside him, as if making an offering to appease the angry cat ball.
"Meow!" System 2333 took off its ears one by one and threw them at him. "I told you to get proper sleep! Hosts aren’t like us cat balls—no matter how strong your constitution is, you can’t skip sleep!"
"I was wrong, I’m sorry, San-San."
"And I remember you once told me that mechanical cat ears are fake cuteness! That makes me so mad! I’m going to make you suffer!"
Ji Yiwei: "..."
He had gone to great lengths to make San-San forget that incident—why was it being brought up again?
The ears were being thrown faster and faster. Worried that San-San might exhaust itself, Ji Yiwei suddenly caught both ears mid-air. System 2333, now weaponless, froze in confusion. After a brief moment of consideration, Ji Yiwei clenched the ears, turned around, and bolted.
System 2333: "!!!"
It leaped up in outrage.
"Give them back! Return my ears!"
Ji Yiwei truly understood System 2333. After a good-natured scuffle, the cat ball’s mood visibly improved. It sternly ordered Ji Yiwei to eat breakfast before going to sleep—of course, it would join him.
Just as they were dozing off together on the sofa, System 2333 suddenly felt an intense vibration from its left cat ear—a mandatory notification from the Main System.
[Warning: Energy reserves critical.]
[Systems numbered 1001-2333 must return to the System Living Quarters immediately.]
[This cycle’s energy retrieval mission will be carried out by the above-listed systems.]
Author’s Note:
San-San: Looking at the numbering… feels targeted.
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